Overgrownegyptian
posted on Dec 05, 2007 - 09:55 PM
From tonyhabibi:another question ,
I have a chinese food resteraunt next to my school , and it has alot of good food that is fasting .... so i decide to eat there everyday . But since i am eating tasty good food , and getting full etc ... am i forgetting the point of fasting by filling up on tasty fasting foods ?
where do we draw the line ? what if i like FALAFEL/TA3MEYA and i eat it everyday , and i rather enjoy it ... will i be not fasting in the eyes of the lord ?
Tony,
It is important to fast with our senses as well. I mean it in the sense that the devil will tempt us with food through our senses, maybe seeing something on tv with wonderful food or smelling something nice as we drive by a steak house or whatever the case may be.
Dont forget what happened with Eve:
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate." (Genesis 3:6)
One look with lust at the food became history.
Fr. Athanasius Iskander says, "To have a liking for gourmet food all the time and to have a disliking for humble food is not the way to spiritual perfection."
Luke 16:19 gives the perfect answer to your question, “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously everyday." The man died and went to hades while the poor man that only desired to eat the crumbs went to heaven.
The important point though is that the word everyday is emphasized (emphasized i mean in the bible, not that i put it in bold). We can see then that it's not a sin to eat delicious food every once in a while, like how we do when we have a feast (after Resurrection, Holy 50 days, or Nativity) or even when we have people over (Thanksgiving or even guests visiting) but eating these good tasting foods everyday will not benefit your spirituality, meaning it will not help your fasting..in essence, it will again, negate all the hard word you've done in your fasting.
I remember you talking about monasticism in a different thread. Look at the life of the monks. The early fathers, The Desert Fathers, would eat bread with salt and water but when they had a guest they would cook lentils (fool madamas lol) for them and have a feast for the sake of the guest.
Even the story of the Prodigal Son. When he returned the father ordered them to bring a fatted calf and to kill it so they could eat and be merry (Luke 15:23)
From Practical Spirituality, by Fr. Anthanasius Iskander he says, "St. Paul tells us, 'everywhere and in all things I am instructed to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need.' (Phil 4:12) That means that I can enjoy a good meal but I can also endure hunger. I can eat delicious food sometimes but I can also eat humble food when I have to, for example during fasting. Train your taste buds to be content with whatever food there is."
SO a long reply that means its not wrong to eat the chinese food but eating it everyday (especially if you say its good tasting food) is not helping your fast, that it's actually as if you werent fasting.
Hope this helps, God be with you.
_________________
andrew
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, pleasing to you.
"O God, my God, I will rise up early unto You; for my soul has thirsted for You: to make my flesh blossom for You, in a barren land and a trackless and dry place." (Psalm 62:1)
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